Noah Garod, on an aimless journey, decides to stop at the remains of his old village, to pay his respects. Little does he know, however, that it's become something of a refuge for raiders and other unsavory sorts. He has, however, heard of the unrest around the border and set out the call for those willing to accompany him to investigate.

...Yeeeaahhh. I kind of don't have much to say about this one, other than that since we're just starting out I figured a regular ol' "go to objective, fight angry outlaws" might do. Anyhow, small (4-5 people) beat-em-up rp in Plegia since there doesn't seem to be one of those yet.

Sand and dust, stretching on for what seemed to be infinity, or if not, for far too long. That was the sight that greeted Noah Garod as he approached the site of his long-dead town. He could scarcely remember anything about it; vague recollections of places, events, and people lingered in the back of his mind as he drew his cowl about him to shield himself from the harsh sun and winds.

He felt as though he were gazing through a translucent window; the memories were surely there, but they lay muddled and dormant, and they were excessively reluctant to reveal themselves with any amount of clarity.

The tactician could not accurately gauge his own emotions, nor did not even know exactly why he was here; just that he gravitated here, that some unknowable force pulled him along. Perhaps he wanted to pay his respects. Perhaps he wanted to see if there was yet anything he could salvage from the embers of his old home. But here he was, and the tattered walls rose to meet him as he drew ever closer. The distant ruins grew less and less distant.

"Almost there," he said simply. An obvious statement, but he felt he had to say something to ensure his voice did not shake as his heart seemed to. It mercifully did not. Now that he was here, looking at it with new eyes, this place made him a bit uneasy. Was this really the same place he had spent the first six years of his life?

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"Ahh, I told them to wait for me while I did my business!" Ariel bounced across the desert, not caring about the sand that got caught between her toes. "Idiots!" She'd gotten separated from her troupe, and now she had to catch up in the only way she knew how- run like Grima was displeased with her. As she ran, she pulled out the Flux tome the cook had given her and started flipping through the pages.

Wasn't there a spell in here that made her run faster, or that slowed down time so the troupe would move less quickly, or to just WARP her onto the back of one of her friends? She skidded to a halt, put one hand on her forehead and put the hand with the tome on her hips. "Ariel," she said, "That's STAFF magic. Not DARK magic. You should know this by now." Putting the tome back onto its leather pouch on the back of her waist, she then started running again.

At least, until she was distracted by something. She skidded to a second halt not very far from where she had stopped to scold herself the first time, kicking up sand in the progress, and turned to the short, human-shaped figure that she saw walking in the direction of the ruined village that she'd used for cover as she'd done her business. It was covered in a heavy cloak, so Ariel couldn't tell if it was a traveller, a bandit, one of those undead folks she'd heard rumors about, or even male or female.

Covering her bases, she took her Flux to hand again and put her armed hand in her hip a second time as she cupped her other hand around her mouth. "Hey!" she called out to the figure, "What are you doing, travelling this far from civilisation alone?"

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Today's job had sounded a little disappointing, Emilia thought. Search an abandoned village and bring back what was still of use.

'How dull...' She sighed as she stepped across the sand, brushing her flame-coloured hair out of her eyes.

She'd much rather have gotten a job with some action, or at least a chance of encountering someone or something she could fight. Searching a pile of rubble in the desert was definitely not going to give her much action. From what she'd heard, it was also an old pile of rubble, long since stripped of everything useful by other scavengers and bandits. Emilia was starting to wonder why she'd even been given this job.

At long last, the ruins came into view, and with a small human figure. What was that other person even doing here?

A small smirk crept over Emilia's lips. If the figure in the distance was a scavenger, perhaps there was still something of value in the ruins. If not, well, she could always challenge him to a fight or try stabbing him in the back and rob him. Maybe she would see some action after all...

"Hey! You there!" She shouted at the tiny figure, hoping her voice would be heard. "What're you doing here?!"

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#4"]"Plegia...is truly terrible."

A lone lancer complained as he dragged his legs through another dune of sand, sand everywhere. His third leg, being a poled weapon, proved to be more useful than being used by him in a fight right now. He was glad he didn't pick to wear heavy armor, or that thing would already be wasted as soon as he entered this desert land.

The story began when Wolfe decided to join in the mercenary guild, after he quit the military job at the Longfort few years ago. Due to his less experience in the land of Grima and its dark magic, his first quest from Eric was to venture into this land in order to collect information regarding Plegia army. It had been only a short while that Ylisse's prince retreated from this country, and the employer seemed to care if the valiant army will pursue.

"I wonder who would be that one Eric took this job from, must be rich enough to invest for something as pointless as this." The one eye talked to himself before he stopped walking in order to sip some water. Suddenly, his left eye noticed something from afar at the horizontal line made of sand dunes.

"An illusion? ...no." It seemed to be an old construction As he stared at the ruin, the ex-sniper noticed that some people just walked into that place. It made hum curious of their activity. The lanceman changed his course and set the ruin as his destination.

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Noah turned as the wind blew a little harder. He glanced impassively at the figures who had joined him, and at the one in the distance. A very quick risk assessment ran through his head. The middle of a desert was an odd place to be making friends, but they weren't assaulting him, and he himself was uncertain of why he had come, so sharing his non-existent motives wasn't going to hurt him. He took a moment to deliberate, and then...

"There. I am here for that," he replied, pointing towards the remains of the town. "It's my old home," he added, though he did not elaborate further.

"And what of you lot?" he asked. "This is not the most suitable place for a picnic."

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#6"]Wolfe approached the group carefully after entering the ruin area. He hid behind a nearby debris that was big enough to cover himself, and tried to eavesdrop whatever this people were discussing. It seemed to be his habit from the time when he was a sharpshooter to scout any stranger. Desert wind should assist him in this hiding, however, it made his hearing more difficult. He managed to hear something about home coming, but not the rest.

There were three of them, one short man with two attractive women, reddish and purplish hair color. Wolfe noted that he leaned toward the more matured one right now, thought the younger still had more opportunity to develop. Hopefully, she got herself a good model.

That thinking aside, Wolfe tried keeping quiet until he was certain these people were safe to approach.

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Other people had started showing up, too; one woman who had asked the robed figure a similar question to Ariel's own, and a more distant figure who had elected to not make contact at all. Ariel waved at the latter before running over to the shorty. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could travel with them to catch up to her troupe- it would be safer than traveling alone.

"I love picnics!" she said, laughing. "But not in the desert. You get sand stuck in your teeth if you picnic in the desert. The more fertile parts of Northern Plegia are MUCH better for it." She grinned, putting both hands on her hips. "I'm Ariel," she said. "I was traveling with a group, but leave it to us to get separated. I'm trying to catch up with them, but I'm curious. Why is everyone here alone? Haven't you heard the rumors?"

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Emilia had crossed the distance between herself and the other figure in no time. The stranger said to be here to visit his hometown, but she could hardly believe anyone would want to live in the pile of rubble. He had to be here for another reason, she concluded. One that might collide with her own.

"I am here for treasure. And you'd better not be going after it too." She said with a low voice, taking out her dagger with a single quick movement and holding it under the man's chin. "Whatever's in there is mine, alright Shorty? Same goes for you." She shot the purple-haired girl a dark look.

"No one touches my treasure, no one gets hurt, got that?"

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Noah glared. He did not appreciate it when people tried to strong-arm him, and he appreciated being called short even less. In response to this blatant threat, his tone dropped dangerously and icily low.

"Allow me to establish something."

He drew his own dagger, and put it at this red-headed spitfire's neck. As he did so his other hand curled into a fist. There was a tense silence for a few precious seconds, with each staring each other in the eyes before he began to speak.

"As I just said, I'm here to visit what remains of my home. I couldn't possibly care less about your... baubles. But I will not be threatened and since you're so eager to fight, I will tell you right now that this dagger is made of a special glass made to cut through flesh easily. It is also laced with poison, so one cut means you're dead. And this," he then sheathed the dagger and raised his left hand, sparking with savage electricity. "This... won't kill you. But I am not adept at controlling its power any further than 'do not kill' and it might make you wish you were dead."

He dropped it. No sense in hurting, or worse, murdering someone before he even ran into trouble. Instead he turned to the cheerier, and more importantly, less murderous girl. He slipped back into his usual style of speech.

"At any rate. If you are referring to the unrest near the borders, then yes, I am aware. But both nations are in a holding pattern as of yet, are they not?"

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#10"]"Hmm, looks like there's nothing here."

After listening to the conversation for a while, Wolfe felt that these people barely knew each other, and it was just a simple conversation between strangers. Though he took a liking of what the redhead said about her treasures being hers. He didn't get why the short man had to tell people what his weapons do, he for one didn't think that was a wise thing to do.

Whatever.

"Ahem." The one-eyed lancer asked for attention as he showed himself, no matter he was already found out or not. "Not going to join your quarrel, but do anyone mind telling how can I get to the nearest town from here? This desert is killn' me."

Whoa. Violence. "Whoa people, come off it," Ariel said, laughing nervously. "Between the Ylisseans and the dead-but-not-quite-dead, there's enough things trying to send our life force to Lord Grima without us giving them a hand." She guessed if nothing else, this explained why they traveled alone; no one was willing to put up with them.

Blushing at the man who'd winked at her, she turned to him and put one finger on her chin, looking into the distance and thinking. "I dunno about the nearest town," she said, "but my troupe is about ten minutes... thattaway?" Pulling her hand from her chin, she pointed away from the ruins the short person was headed for. "It's not a town but they have shade and water. If you wait a bit, we can go together."

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"My my, you got spunk. I like you." Emilia murmured with a slow chuckle, dropping the arm that held her dagger when she saw his weapon. "Sounds like you've got quite the weapon too... Though you're not the only one working with poison, hon." She winked at him, before turning to the other two people.

She smiled at the one-eyed man who had winked at her, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

The girl's offer to the man seemed quite pleasant, she sure could do with some shade and water after all this sun and heat. And since none of the others had said to be after the treasure... Perhaps if she acted nice, or at least not murderous to them she could reap some more rewards than just some nice shinies.

"Well, since no one has yet made any attempt to steal my treasure, I suppose I could play nice with you guys. ...For now."

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Noah raised an eyebrow. It was hardly his intention to flirt. But at any rate, he felt it prudent to keep an eye on this one. Such abrupt changes in attitude were not natural. Of course, it felt particularly odd to have people making lewd passes at each other just seconds after a battle nearly broke out, as well.

He disregarded the aggressively gold-seeking comment--he saw no use in starting another argument--and responded to others. "That's very kind of you to offer. Still, even though there may not be anything here, this is still the site of my former home. If it's all the same I'd like to stop there before I do anything else."

He stopped as he spotted a group of figures emerging from one side of the village walls. They were close enough to see that at least some were hefting some sort of heavy tools, no... axes? That couldn't be a good omen. No one was supposed to be there. Let alone someone armed. They seemed to have spotted his group, too. They were fast approaching, with far too much... vigor for his liking.

"...I don't like the looks of that. If they're hostile, who exactly can fight, and how?"

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It seemed the argument had died down, probably due to his interference, that was good. The purplish cheerful girl was the first to reply him as expected, and her option didn't sound bad at all. He hoped the girl and her troupe could be an oasis for a blind man for the time being.

"I'd say that is the best offer I've ever got one today, lady." Wolfe bowed a little to the performer. He then turned to the other two that could get along now, even though the redhead lady still made clear of her objective. However, by looking at the man, the lancer noticed that something was coming from the direction he was turning to. As the sound came arrived his ears as well, he turned to make certain of the situation.

Wolfe widened his one eye a bit once he saw a group of armed men heading toward his direction. There was no sign that they came to make friend, at all. What to do, he thought. If he were still a sniper, he'd make use of this ruin as a bunker and wipe those thugs out before they could reach. It was a shame he couldn't pull a stunt like that anymore.

"Those people..." The lancer, as he prepared his weapon, said to the red haired beauty. "I think they are here for your treasures, what did you say you would do with thugs like that again?"

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"I hurt them." Emilia replied with a wicked grin. "I hurt them bad."

She pulled out her katti, scraping her dagger along its blade to create a series of small sparks. Oh boy, was she excited to finally see some blood. Whoever those poor sods where that had decided to charge at her, she would make sure none of them would be able to walk normally anymore, provided they actually survived.

"I fight quick, dirty and in every way that'll end in me winning. I take it as a personal insult that such louts dare to think they can steal my treasure. And I don't take well to insults..." She said, answering the shorter man's question. She did doubt the fighting ability of the rest a little, especially the girl, since she didn't see any weapon of sorts on her. Not that it mattered much to her. As long as she could make her enemies regret the days they were born, she was fine with any companion in battle.

Emilia held up her dagger and katti, smiling affectionately at them.

"These darlings haven't seen action in such a long time. This is going to be fun..."

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Ariel grinned. "We make good offers," she said. "It's how you get by in times like these when you don't have a 'proper' job." As she said 'proper,' she used her fingers to make annotation signs in the air. She hated people who thought travelling performers didn't work hard for their money.

However, when the short man who everyone had been drawn to looked into the direction of the ruin and asked if anyone could fight, Ariel turned her gaze in the same direction and jumped. Those guys definitely didn't seem friendly, even from this distance. Honestly! Openly carrying weapons was one thing, but carrying them in such a way you could land them on haphazard travelers in a heartbeat was another thing altogether.

Sighing, she opened the Flux tome once more, flipping through the pages in search of the incantation and gestures she had to use to cast the base form of the spell- she hadn't been using it for long enough to have it all memorized. "I'd like to say my dances are special and will keep you all fresh, but that'd be a hard-faced lie," she said, tapping the page as she found what she had been looking for. "I'm still pretty green, but if you can keep me from being interrupted I can help out here and there."

With those words, she grabbed the spine of the book with one hand and stuck her dominant hand out front of her, using her index finger to start scribbling a magic symbol in the air. "Just, try not to stand in the way. I have no idea what this stuff does at close range."

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"How many offers have you had today, period?" Noah asked vacantly, running the variables through his head. He had made notes of everyone's weapons, and rapidly set about mentally constructing a good formation. Ideally, it'd have the dancer girl in the back protected by the others, with the lancer guarding her from one side and he and the redhead spearheading the assault, to deal with the axe users. He said as much to the others briefly, though he did not expect immediate cooperation. Theirs was a rocky start indeed, and only Ariel had introduced herself. He made a note to share his name after they dealt with this somehow.

"And whadda we got here, boys?" called one of the more developed men. A few cried back, with inane answers such as "pincushions!" or "meal-tickets!"

Noah answered irrespective of its rhetorical status. "We're travelers. That's all that needs to be said, I believe."

"Oh, izzat so? You weren't thinking of going in this thing, were you?"

"And if we were?"

He sneered. "Well, then you'd have to learn what we do with these," he said, holding up the axe. Then he thought a moment. "Or maybe you will anyway. We can't exactly have anyone runnin' round knowin' we're here. 'Else someone might come knockin'."

Noah did not like where this was going. "I'm certain we could work something--"

"No, shortstack, I'm pretty sure we couldn't. You gotta go."

He held up a hand and fired a bolt at the man. It caught him off-guard and he bombarded their ears with abusive language as he gripped his arm, while two smaller strands of lightning curved away and struck one brigand in the side of the head, but missed another altogether. All those not stumbling from the initial assault rushed in.

Drawing his own katti, he muttered, "Ariel, pick a target. Everyone stay close so we can support each other."

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"As much as I'd like to note to never loot your spoil, it's glad to hear." Wolfe replied to the charming treasure hunter, chuckling. It was good to know that there will be someone leading the assault. He also relieved that he didn't get to be that person, given that he still needed to be familiar with this polearm. The lancer then turned to the dancer, saying. "Then I guess I'll stay behind just to guard you, misty."

In fact, he still wondered how this girl's dancing will help them in battle. Of course, with her developing figure and probably her seducing movement, it's possible to make him excited. He only doubted if he had any time to peek her so. Hopefully, she didn't mean it and had something else up her sleeve.

The conversation between the shorty and desert bandits seemed to be a pattern to start a fight, and Wolfe already prepare his mind of it, only his mind. He still doubted in tilting techniques he learned from Eric that it would be practical in real situation, not to say that Eric was not even a spearman.

Turning his left to the foe, so that he could see the soon coming attack, Wolfe pointed his spear down a bit and waited for the eruption of battle. The lightning stuck as a signal before the foes dashing toward them.

His sniper eye quickly scanned the three attackers in order to find his first opponent. According to his instructor, his weapon would gain more advantage with sword user, given that it was ordinary sword and not a huge sized one. Therefore, his locked the desert swordsman and stepped into the way the would lure him in.

At this range, I'd already fire an arrow... The blind lancer thought as he waited, patiently. He made a count quietly until the swordsman entered his attack range, and that was when he stepped forward. Now.

Taking advantage by the longer reach of his weapon, Wolfe embedded the tip of his spear into the man's side. The bandit tried to dodge, but he couldn't due to the lancer's first step to get closer. He tried to land a strike with his sword but it hardly hit with that distance. Wolfe pressed forward to retrieve his spear, drawing our blood from the wound, and struck the man's head with the other blunt end.

"Oh, that worked." Wolfe turned to others, in a hope that they were doing better than himself, and said to no one. The swordsman would be down for a while so he can focus at other foes for now. "Moving on to next target."

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"You and me heading the assault? I like it. Trust me, I won't disappoint." She winked again, then readied her weapons. Normally she wasn't one for teamwork with strangers, but there was no way she could win this all on her own. Plus the man's idea wasn't too bad.

The flash of lighting was their cue, and Emilia shot forward with a savage cry, ignoring the man the lancer had attacked and dashing straight for one of the axe-wielding men. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she raised her weapons, striking them together right before the man came into range, sending a blinding flash out of her dagger. Then she darted to the side of the man, who was temporarily blinded by the flash, running her katti through his side and sending a painful shock of electricity through the wound. She finished him off with a slash to the neck with her dagger, pulling her katti back out and leaving him lying on the ground, knowing the poison of her dagger will finish her job. An opponent who was already on the ground was no fun to fight.

"Who's next?!"

This one had been to easy, it was time to pick someone bigger. Luckily for Emilia, one of the bigger men of the group had regained his wits and now came charging at her, shouting obscenities. She managed to dodge the blow of his axe narrowly, jumping backwards before striking her weapons again to create another blinding flash. This time however, she was less lucky, as the man recovered faster than expected. She managed to land a hit with her dagger and slashing his upper leg, but had to jump backwards before she could strike with her katti. Perhaps she had been a little too eager in attacking this one...

"Hey! A little help in here!"

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As short stuff tried and failed to negotiate with the desert bandits, the lancer promised that he would stay near Ariel to help her and to keep her from being interrupted. "It's actually Ariel, not Misty," she said, smiling, but she soon turned serious again.

The enemies attacked, and while Ariel had wanted to zone in on the slow and cumbersome axemen, her protector was attacked by a much faster swordsman instead. For both his protection and her own, Ariel hurriedly began her incantation, using index and middle finger to draw her magic symbol- except this time, the lines she drew actually remained in the air, in an eerie, deep purple color. "O great forces that sleep within the abyss that is the human mind," she spoke, "Become my strength! Flux!"

With those words, Ariel turned a quick pirouette on the spot and swiped her palm through the magic symbol. The lancer had managed to down, if not quite kill, his foe that Ariel had zoned in on, so the spell targeted the downed man just as he prepared to stand back up. A small, dark purple cloud formed around him, quickly imploding and forcing him back to the ground, his eyes rolled up in his head and his chest no longer heaving with breath.

As the magic symbol disappeared from the air, Ariel took another step back as she attempted to choose another target, deciding on the remaining axe-wielder. "Are you alright, sir?" She asked their lancer, even as she started to draw in the air again. She'd probably only half-hear the answer, but she still wanted to ask.

Noah's eyes drifted to the redhead's fight. She seemed to be having trouble with one of the bulkier thugs. He raised his sword as he charged, and swung down with all his momentum. He managed to catch the man in the neck, giving him a nasty bruise in the process, but in retaliation he swung back and smashed Noah's pauldron into his left shoulder. He winced. There probably wasn't any significant damage, but it hurt terribly and he didn't think he was going to be using it for any two-handed strikes anytime soon.

"That's it, count some sheep," he muttered as he swung again, this time smacking the exhausted man right in the head. He dropped this time, leaving the two to deal with the now very alert and very angry leader.

"You're gonna regret that. Ya just made me real mad."

"If you ask me you already were to pick a fight with us," Noah shot back.

"Smart mouth you got there. Let's see how it is after I've torn it off your face."

He went forward and his axe moved with a horrifying speed. Noah rolled forwards to dodge, and didn't manage to get up in time to catch the next strike he saw coming...

As he did so, the other axe-toting bandit approached Wolfe.Enemy Count (close)Lv 12 Raloph the Boss: Pressing the attack on Noah.Lv 3 Fighter: Attacking Wolfe and Ariel.

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"Wow, how accountable." Somehow, the potential of this impromptu made up group amazed him. As Wolfe turned to see which enemy he could be his target, he found that there was not many left to choose. When he turned to the swordsman earlier to finish thing up, he also noticed that the man was taken out by some spell.

"What a method to cast magic, really, and I'm fine." The one eyed lancer spoke to the dancing caster as he prepared for the last two foes. He wondered why they didn't retreat already. They must be really bad with maths, or else they were just idiots. Anyhow, it was easy to focus with the foes that were lessened in number, he saw clearly that the last underling was charging at him. "Let's end this fight that I won't get any pay."

Wolfe made a note that his opponent was an axeman, and he was told before that most polearm did not work well with these brutal weapon. Probably, it was because axe blade reached to the shaft easily or it could be used as a guard in order to get closer to a lance user, and harm them. In this aspect, he saw familiarity in lance and bow, that their fatal moment would be the time their opponent can endure their counterattack and break through. Therefore, keeping proper range was the heart of these weapons.

Thrusting the spear into the axeman's leg, and somehow halted him, the lancer quickly retrieve the lance and stepped back. It didn't damage the target as much as he hoped, the bandit attacked again. This time Wolfe focused at the opponent's head in order to end it, however, the axeman rapidly made a spin to dodge his attack. To make the matter worse, the spin was to the right, the direction that he couldn't see.

"Hmm, nice one, I didn't think you had it in you." Emilia said as she watched the dark-haired man finish off her opponent. Then she turned to the now irate boss of the group.

"Show him, short stuff." She said. She had expected the short one to finish the leader off quickly, but he turned out to be a lot tougher than they had both expected. Emilia was only just in time to block a blow that would have likely cleaved the man's head in two. She retaliated quickly with a jab to the hands, sending out yet another flash when he dagger sank into the leader's hand. He let out a roar of pain and stumbled around, while Emilia dragged her short companion back by the collar, pulling him back up on his feet.

"Keep your wits about you now! I don't want your pretty little brain splattered all over me!" She shouted, before she jumped back at the man and stabbing him in the back with her katti.

"Now's your chance, shorty! Get him!"

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The axe fighter was a lot faster than Ariel had anticipated, what with the sand having been supposed to slow him down. The lancer was fighting him beautifully, but Ariel realized she'd messed up a line in her drawing and had to start over. And that was proving to be detrimental.

She'd locked her mind onto her target again and started over with her cast, this time more focused so as not to mess up again, when the barbarian ducked towards the lancer's blind side. At least, Ariel assumed the eyepatch hadn't been for show. There was no way she could finish her cast in time to stop the axeman, who was already swinging his axe up towards his now helpless adversary, so she did something she would never have considered had she been using her old magic.

She paused her cast, despite the enormous headache that involved, and threw her tome at him. She nailed him in the face, causing his axe to go off course and miss, and sending him tumbling back. "What tha-"

"FLUX!" When he tossed the tome to the ground, he found himself surrounded by the same mist that had killed his sword-wielding companion. Ariel lowered her outstretched arm and put her legs together again, running over to her companion to pick up her tome and check on him.

Enemies (close)Lv 12 Raloph the Boss: FINISH HIM!

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"Thanks," Noah muttered, brushing himself off. "I think we should attack him together. He's too tough for a fair fight."

He started sketching runes mid-air. This could be somewhat rough, but he didn't have the luxury of using anything less than his full power. "I'll create an opening with this, if you can guard me while I'm casting..."

"Gotcha. I'll keep this guy busy." Emilia grinned, flipping her dagger over in her hand and facing their enemy.

"Oi! Over here!" She shouted, banging her weapons together to create yet another bright flash. If she could just keep him busy like this until the short man was done with his magic tricks...

The larger man snarled and covered his eyes, but he did not stop his advance. He blindly lashed out, but his strokes were telegraphed and struck nothing but air.

And as such the smaller man finished his preparations just as his foe opened his eyes. He saw another bolt split into three and strike him in the throat, stomach and right leg. He screamed with pain as the magic surged uncontrollably.

As the bandit leader writhed, Noah pulled his dagger, pointing it at his enemy. He looked over to his partner in crime and mouthed, "now," before dashing in.

"You don't have to say it twice, short stuff." Emilia's blade crackled with raw electricity as she raised it, dashing alongside her companion.

They were going to end this, and end it quick.

Noah felt as though he were moving in slow motion. For a moment, two blades moved as one. First, his dagger traced a long gash along the brigand's chest, and he spun with the momentum to see his companion work, just in time with his jump backwards.

Emilia let out a wild laugh as she felt her katti sink deep into the brigand's flesh. That should teach them not to mess with the wrong people.

As her opponent sank onto the ground, she pulled out her weapon and turned to face her companion.

"Not bad, shorty."

Noah examined the man he had struck down before their leader. This one was not technically dead, merely unconscious, but his breathing was growing slower and his flesh colder. It seemed there was indeed poison in the lady's blades. That could be dangerous. He was glad they hadn't fought each other.

"Nor you. Miss...?"

He also took the liberty of introducing himself more properly. "I am Noah. Thank you all for your help."

He turned back to the ruined town and grimaced. Then he scanned the horizon before speaking again. "...but if you'd grant me the favor of your help again, this would be a perfect time to enter... and strike."

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Just as soon as Wolfe prepared to get hit, the axeman seemed to be suddenly interrupted. He didn't know until he turned his face to the direction and saw that it was a tome, and it reminded him of the caster behind him. So she didn't fire a spell, but her tome? Whatever, the lancer stepped away from the enemy in order to recover his battle stance again, just to find that the same one was surrounded by a form of magic.

As he was still somewhat close to the foe, the black mist damaged him a little. Though all it did was slamming him to the ground, nothing more. At least, it was way better than getting struck by an axe.

"Aside from your dancing, that's one unique way to cast magic I've ever seen." said the lancer as he stood up with a support of the girl. "Look like I owe you one, thanks."

Actually, in his mind, Wolfe was not so happy about being rescued, he noted that he had to try harder or it won't do to survive alone. Before that, he needed to return a favor to this girl somehow, or he will be in her debt forever. He didn't become a mercenary to rely on someone.

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After she'd helped the lancer stand up, Ariel bent forward to pick up her tome. "It's an acquired skill," she said, "Also something most casters simply don't THINK to do." She didn't tell him that he could have been a bloody mess right now if she hadn't thrown the tome, blushing as she remembered that her messing up could have gotten him killed. "Argh, figures." The brute had thrown the tome down without caring whether it was open or shut, and it had fallen open. As she walked over to where the other two were, she started straightening out dog-ears... well, entire dog-pages, really.

She overheard the other two introducing themselves as Noah and Emilia, and nodded to herself. Noah seemed to want to press on into the ruins, much to Ariel's concern. She was no tactician, though, and if he felt it was a good idea to go in and root them out, maybe it was. "Well," she said, "I still have a little juice left, but Noah, is it really necessary? Honestly, anyone in their right mind doesn't travel alone anyway, and other than passerby I don't think they can really hurt anyone from here."

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"Emilia." She replied with a smile. "It was no problem really. I'm glad I finally got to see some action, plus they were trying to steal the treasure I had claimed."

Emilia looked in the direction Noah was looking, her eyes narrowing. Why were bandits suddenly shooting out of the ground like mushrooms? She hadn't encountered any, yet since she met her new companions it seemed the desert was suddenly filled with them. Perhaps it was a good thing she had ran into them here and now.

"Strike again? No problem. Point and I'll kill, as long as I get what I came for."

She wiped her dagger clean with one of the flaps of her skirt, ready for the next battle.

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"Honestly? I'm more worried about us," Noah muttered in response to Ariel's (understandable) skepticism. "Look at us. We're standing in a pile of their dead comrades. It doesn't seem likely that they'd let us go after that, and I don't see any landmarks around for us to take shelter in. We may have no other choice than to run them out..." He left out the fact that he was entirely aggravated by their transgression. This was not their place. It had been destroyed many years prior, was that not enough? He burned with anger, but his tone remained deceptively tranquil, as he was already hard at work scanning his memory for useful information.

"Of course, with this bunch disposed of, we may have an opening. These men look like they were just on watch. When they fail to return, their fellows will have to investigate. And while they've divided their strength in this manner, it should be much easier to oust those who remain inside..." From there, his sentence turned into unintelligible mutterings. It would be a simple matter to ambush whoever was left as they returned, and he knew this place had more than one entrance. It was only a matter of finding which one was the best to attack from...

"...There's an entrance around back that we could try," he said quietly, still running through scenarios. "We need to be as far away from here as we can to buy ourselves time... and if possible we should take up a position in a ruined building, so we'll only have to worry about a few entrances..."

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"Well, since I have no interest in a penniless battle, guess I'll go with your plan, Mr.Tactician."

While the ex-sniper noticed that it might be his bad luck to meet these people, he also figured that it was already too late to escape by himself. In this desert, he couldn't walk so fast to get away from 'desert' bandits, it could be his most foolish decision above all. The girls seemed to be quite skilled, they appeared to have enough potential in his eye, teamwork aside. He already saw a performance of the dancer mage, and the redhead appeared so eager to kill any foe. His personal feeling regarding trusting someone aside, they could make a good team.

"If we have no time as he said, shouldn't we get moving already?" The blind man shrugged, looking at the two girls. He also shot them with a gentle smile, saying. "The name is Wolfe, good to be acquainted with you, ladies."

The last remaining anonymous member of their makeshift alliance introduced himself as Wolfe. Ariel nodded to him, suppressing the urge to curtsy- this was not the moment to put on a play. She listened to Noah arguing for his decision to rout the bandits, and put one hand to her face in thought. Welllllll... she could easily outrun the bandits, probably. She was used to difficult terrain and she travelled lightly. Still, she didn't assume that was the same for the others.

Noah had started musing to himself about tactics and plans, and Ariel waited patiently until he'd come to a conclusion while continuing to straighten out the pages of her tome. "Just speak the word," she said, "I'll be right there. Just keep in mind the tome is for hurt only."

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"More to come?" Emilia grinned. "I'll hurt them all the same. Badly. And you're proposing an ambush? Heh, I'm starting to like you more and more." She said to Noah.

She gave Wolfe a smile back, as she did to Ariel.

"Good to know you have a name, Patch. And you, girl."

Then she turned back to the tactician, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"Still, why are there bandits so far out in the desert? Was your village that rich? Or perhaps some rumours of a hidden treasure? ...No, scratch the last one, I would've heard of it. Hmph, perhaps they just felt like being a nuisance. Let's go make that ambush and kill them."

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Noah stopped for a moment. Truthfully he had not considered the why of their presence, so much as the fact that the bandits were there. But, thinking about it... this wasn't a popular travel destination. They must have known that if they were in any large number...

"No, ours was a common village... which means that if anything's here, it's already theirs and no one would complain if we took it," he murmured in response. If there were bandits in force, then it meant this place was being used as some sort of hiding spot. It would certainly explain the earlier party's anxiety to be rid of them, at any rate.

"But we'll be sure after this is all over. For now, let's get going. We don't want to be out in the open when their friends come knocking."

Thus the tactician circled around, keeping to the corners of the village's walls and advancing cautiously around any corners. Keeping their enemy's strength divided hinged entirely upon their ability to work quickly and quietly. If they couldn't keep a low profile, the full force of the bandits would fall on them, and he didn't like their chances of winning in a fair fight.

They thankfully reached the rear entrance without incident, at which point Noah signaled them to stop. He listened hard, and heard a shuffling inside. He looked in, and fortunately there was a group moving out as expected. After they had left, a small handful of them remained, loudly discussing recent victories, the scoundrels. Still, Noah was quietly glad that they were so boorish and loud; it kept them from noticing his party.

While the bandits continued their ridiculous conversation, he inspected the area. Two sat to the side near a doorway, at a table harboring a pile of coins, apparently shooting dice or playing some other sort of betting game. Another two were apparently breaking for lunch under a precious bit of shade, cast by a shaky-looking awning. It was in surprisingly good shape, but its moorings looked shoddy indeed.

Finally, one stood against a wall, inspecting his weapon. This one would be ready, so he might be problematic...

"We're in luck," Noah said softly, "There are only a few out here right now. Let's keep away from the buildings for now, though," he continued, "I don't know if there are any more in there..."

And so after waiting for everyone to get ready, he began chanting his incantation. This one spell, he hadn't shown. But...

He stepped out into the gate, and the table exploded upwards, having been forcefully propelled by a pillar of hardened sand. Gold pieces flew and exacted myriad colorful language from the table's occupants, and one die serendipitously cracked the more unfortunate of the two in the forehead.

The two sitting under the awning looked up in surprise but thus far seemed too taken aback to react yet. No such luck with the one with a sword, who had already begun advancing...

Enemy Count (close)Level 3 Fighter: Cursing up a storm from being beaned with his own die.Level 2 Myrmidon: Startled by the flying table.Level 4 Barbarian: Trying not to drop his lunch.Level 6 Barbarian: Failing to not drop his lunch.Level 8 Mercenary: Advancing ominously. Boo.

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Wolfe hoped a bit that he would get out of this place without encountering any more enemy, but such hope was shattered pretty quick. He wish they could sneak out of the place somehow but he realized that will not happen when the short man was quicker to make his decision, to fight.

The surprise attack seemed to be effective with every bandit, but one of their swordsman who spent so less time being startled. That one was heading to where the blind lancer and his temporary friends were hiding without hesitating.

So this guy can actually trace magic, huh? Preparing his spear, the lancer thought as he stepped forward. Let's hope his fighting ability isn't as great as his sense.

"Leave this guy to me and get the rest of them." The lancer said to his group before rushing ahead to the enemy, his weapon halted the attacker of the bandit swordsman. He then followed through his first attack by jabbing the same man a few time, though his unintended strikes was all blocked and evaded as expected.

The ex-sniper lancer readied his attack stance and locked his remaining eye at the target. He would thrust this polearm at the man if he make a move to any of his companions. The message seemed to be sent through to the swordsman as he now focused at Wolfe.

Enemy (close)Level 3 Fighter: Cursing up a storm from being beaned with his own die.Level 2 Myrmidon: Startled by the flying table.Level 4 Barbarian: Trying not to drop his lunch.Level 6 Barbarian: Failing to not drop his lunch.Level 8 Mercenary: Screened out by Wolfe for the time being

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Once they had taken up position near a small group of the bandits, Ariel hadn't waited for Noah to draw first blood. Instead, she's whipped out her tome and prepared a cast. She hadn't missed the shoddy awning above two burly figures, and while they were too much to handle head-on, there was nothing in the tome saying she HAD to cast at human targets...

"Flux!" Seconds after Noah split the earth and the table, Ariel cast her spell at the awning, dropping it on the heads of the men, who had both started reaching for axes. "Are you sure?" she called out to Wolfe, but when no answer came she decided she'd just look his way every so often and help out if she had to. Except that won't do, she reminded herself, because this spell is so darn SLOW to cast!

She certainly missed the swiftness of her old magic, but used the time she had bought herself to neutralize the cast time. The axemen weren't as coordinated as their sword-wielding companion, so they were still busy getting out from under the awning. She cast a second time, making sure to catch both men in the mist, but clucked her tongue as, while they staggered, it didn't seem to do much.

A fire spell, she thought, my kingdom for a fire spell! She simply didn't dare putting more power into her casts than she did, knowing well the rumors that were circulating about Dark magic. If she'd had a fire spell, she could cast faster and shove all her strength into it... then, she could probably have taken out half these goons on her own.

Of course, it was not to be. By the time the axemen stopped staggering under the awning, Ariel had another cast ready. At least the secondary effect of the spell, the one that made them disoriented, kept them busy for long enough that she had time to prepare her following casts. Maybe the nausea it caused would become worse with repetitive casts, too...

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Cursing up a storm from being beaned with his own die.Level 2 Myrmidon: Startled by the flying table.Level 4 Barbarian: Staggering and trying to get out under the awning, barraged by Ariel.Level 6 Barbarian: Staggering and trying to get out under the awning, barraged by Ariel.Level 8 Mercenary: Screened out by Wolfe for the time being

Squishy #36: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Her companions seemed eager to cause chaos amongst their enemies, Emilia thought with a little smile. Wolfe had already taken apart one of them, and Ariel had temporarily incapacitated two under the fallen awning. She looked over to the last two bandits, focusing on the one who had been hit by his own die.

She darted towards the man, who was too busy cursing to pay much attention to his surroundings, skipped over the awning and floored the bandit with a swift kick to the chest. Unfortunately, the man was fast, fast enough to realise what was happening and reached out to grab Emilia's ankle.

"I don't think so, mister!" She sneered, kicking the man in the head and jumping up onto a crate, out of reach.

Emilia's hand slid to her belt, pulling out a single throwing knife. She flicked the knife almost casually into the man's back, watching with nothing more than an amused smile as the effect of the knife began to work.

The man had gotten up with a strange, unfocused look in his eyes. His comrade, who had been startled by the flying table had regained his composure and had drawn his weapon. The other man looked up, as if he was only just aware of his comrade, and fixed his unsteady gaze on him.

"What're you lookin'at?! She's over there! Get 'er!" His comrade shouted, but the bandit simply stared at him.

Then he drew his weapons and flung himself at his companion.

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Berserk, currently attacking his comrade.Level 2 Myrmidon: Trying not to get killed by his comrade.Level 4 Barbarian: Staggering and trying to get out under the awning, barraged by Ariel.Level 6 Barbarian: Staggering and trying to get out under the awning, barraged by Ariel.Level 8 Mercenary: Screened out by Wolfe for the time being

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Noah thought of how thankful he was that they had the element of surprise on their side, as the scene quickly plunged into chaos. Two bandits struggled underneath the fallen awning, and another two struggled with one another, one of them a victim of some sort of enchantment or poison on the throwing knife.

He couldn't rest, though. There were still enemies about, and more incoming judging by the shuffling coming from one of the decrepit houses. He kept chanting the spell he was already using and blocked the door with a wall of fortified sand. He didn't expect it to hold up for long, though; he was still busy trying to contain the situation at present, and couldn't afford to allot much power to maintain his blockade.

He returned to the problem at hand. They had taken the upper hand early, but their enemy's numbers ensured that they needed that edge to win. Ariel's dark magic kept the two very disoriented, but already, he could see that her casts were waning in effectiveness, having been spread against the two opponents. Wolfe's opponent was... not good. Noah could tell by a glance at the way he carried himself that his skill with a blade paralleled or exceeded his own. He felt a modicum of relief, though, that Emilia and her tricky knives were on his side. With that single slice she'd effectively incapacitated two brigands alone, with one frantically dodging swipes of the other, before finally taking a nasty blow to the sword arm. He cried out in pain and beat a hasty retreat from his bewitched ally, who followed him still, and grew ever closer to the main battlefield.

In a brief instant he ran diagnostics on the situation and constructed a hasty triage; he wanted to help Wolfe, but aiding him meant leaving the two struggling to Ariel alone, which he doubted she could do long enough to grasp victory, and which moreover was too risky for one mage. He'd have to help her beat back those two before he could turn his attention to the spearman. At the very least, he only fought one enemy, and was equipped with an advantageous arm and some armor; he should survive a few moments of combat... at least Noah desperately hoped so. Emilia, meanwhile, didn't factor into his calculations; from what he'd seen she could handle herself.

With that he joined Ariel's barrage, with an even-toned "Don't forget about me," throwing thunder upon their foes to join her fluxes. One, who seemed a bit more competent, had managed to climb out from under the obstacle, and the other poked his head out of it only to receive a face full of electricity. He got another, and another until he tried no longer to approach them. Meanwhile, his associate ducked a few spells and weathered a few more split off from the main lightning-strike. Noah grimaced. He needed to finish this quickly...

"Shall we do it together?" Asked the tactician, still performing incantations to sling spells.

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Berserk, attacking his comrade and getting closer to the rest of us.

Level 2 Myrmidon: Injured but not dead, much less of a threat without his good arm. Attempting to get away from the berserked one.

4 Barbarian: Incapacitated by Noah's lightning, and in too much pain to actually fight back. If you feel nasty you can kill him, e.g. throwing him to the Berserk Fighter. Otherwise he will be treated as "dead," and will be shoved into a locked basement/killed/somehow disposed of following the battle... possibly after being interrogated on the rest of the bandits.

6 Barbarian: Disoriented and pinned down by Ariel and Noah. Managed to get out of the awning, but that's as far as he got.

Level 8 Mercenary: Screened out by Wolfe for the time being, searching for an opening.

Reinforcements: There will be some, and they are going to bust out in the next round. Since they're currently trying to break down Noah's wall, you can feel free to have your character notice how raucous they are.

Also, in case someone manages to ninja-post before V does, I talked to him and he said he wanted to post before getting assistance so as to teach Wolfe he can't rely entirely on the weapon triangle to win for him, so, yeah. If no one helps him after that, though, I will go ahead and try to make Noah step in.

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It appeared that Wolfe succeeded in preventing a quick counter attack of this swordsman, however, he felt at the same time that fighting this man was not as easy as it supposed to be. He was taught that swordsmen were weak against polearms, but after a few quick duels with this man, the lance fighter noticed that he failed to land a strike on this target. Either by blocking or dodging, this person was good at defending from his spear skill, not to mention that he already realized that his right eye was blind for real.

Wolfe told himself to calm down, as he reminded himself that the advantage was still on his side. He just had to handle it carefully. He also declined to the idea of calling for help, as trusting somebody else would result in pain. He didn't want that again ever.

The man charged in again, this time from Wolfe's blind side as expected. The lancer turned to his right a bit as though he was waiting for this chance that the foe tried to take advantage over this blindness. It was like he forced the man to come this way. He made a frontal jabbed to stop the desert swordsman while anticipating that it would miss, and it did. He quickly pulled back his weapon and prepared to block the scimitar. He repelled it once, and twice, before knocked back the man with the blunt end of his spear.

In order to finish the target, Wolfe dashed ahead and made a pierce attack with his full strength. The spear head went into the target's shirt, but Wolfe noticed that it lacked of a landing feel. It was as though he had just struck nothing but air. It appeared that he had been trapped.

The bandit swordsman smirked as he stepped closer. This time, he faked that he will attack from left side, but suddenly encircled to the right. For Wolfe, it was like the man just turned invisible. Feeling the air cleaving from his right with his sniper instinct, he made a miracle dodge by lowering his knee, to sit down quickly. However, that was before he became unarmed after the lance was kicked off. Still not seeing his target, Wolfe tried to move away but he barely dodged the slash at his leg.

When he turned his face to the bandit, it was already too late to evade the coming strike. He widened his single eye while thinking how ironic that his return to war could be so useless.

"Would be wiser to continue living as a flower man, huh." The man whispered his last word, chuckling quietly.

Enemy (close)Level 3 Fighter: Berserk, attacking his comrade and getting closer to the rest of us.

Level 2 Myrmidon: Injured but not dead, much less of a threat without his good arm. Attempting to get away from the berserked one.

4 Barbarian: Incapacitated by Noah's lightning, and in too much pain to actually fight back. If you feel nasty you can kill him, e.g. throwing him to the Berserk Fighter. Otherwise he will be treated as "dead," and will be shoved into a locked basement/killed/somehow disposed of following the battle... possibly after being interrogated on the rest of the bandits.

6 Barbarian: Disoriented and pinned down by Ariel and Noah. Managed to get out of the awning, but that's as far as he got.

Level 8 Mercenary: *is killing Wolfe, somebody help?*

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Grateful for Noah's help in dispatching the trapped bandits with magic that actually left scars, Ariel took the liberty of quickly shooting a glance towards Wolfe. "Yeah, I think that's a good i-" Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw their lancer on one knee, his lance being kicked out of his hand and falling, as in slowmotion, to the floor.

She'd only known all of these people for a short while, but she didn't want any of them to go see Lord Grima so soon, so she stepped around, not caring for the bandits she now left for Noah to handle as she drew the quickest, and yet crispest, rune she had drawn yet. "O forces of the abyss that is the human mind," she chanted, "Become my strength! Dine in the abyss, punk!" she added as magic pulsed through her and like before, she turned a fast pirouette before lashing her arm forwards through the rune. "Flux!"

The rune briefly flashed, something it had never done before, and Ariel winced as it burnt into her skin for a second or so, before the mist appeared over her target. It was thicker than she was used to, and felt more menacing somehow.

Just as the man's sword was about to connect with Wolfe, the cloud imploded on him. She hadn't expected the tough, burly man to scream quite as loudly as he did, not just startled but clearly in pain, and when the mist dissipated she saw him wobbling, grabbing his head in an attempt to maintain his balance. "Someone," she called, "Finish him!"

She would have done it herself, but that last cast had taken enough out of her that she wouldn't even have the strength to push someone off the ledge if they had stood right next to her, let alone that she could cast another Flux.

Level 2 Myrmidon: Injured but not dead, much less of a threat without his good arm. Attempting to get away from the berserked one.

4 Barbarian: Incapacitated by Noah's lightning, and in too much pain to actually fight back. If you feel nasty you can kill him, e.g. throwing him to the Berserk Fighter. Otherwise he will be treated as "dead," and will be shoved into a locked basement/killed/somehow disposed of following the battle... possibly after being interrogated on the rest of the bandits.

6 Barbarian: Disoriented and pinned down by Noah. Managed to get out of the awning, but that's as far as he got.

Level 8 Mercenary: Needs to be finished by someone while he's disoriented.

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"You don't have to ask twice!" Emilia said, launching herself from her perch and dashing towards the disoriented mercenary.

Personally, she thought it more fun to hit him with one of her throwing knives, but seeing as he was about to lob the lancer's head off, before getting struck with the girl's spell, it might be a little too risky. What a shame.

Once she was within reach, she grabbed the man by the chin, lifting his face to meet her eyes. He only looked at her with large, frightened eyes, too weak to put up a fight.

"Hello."

Emilia's face twisted into a mocking smile, and she produced her dagger from her belt, jabbing it between the man's ribs, and gave the blade a good twist before taking it out again.

"And goodbye."

She let the man slip from her hands and watched him slump to the ground, blood pouring from the wound between his ribs. The man was as good as dead now, killing him was too good for him, Emilia thought.

But there were plenty of other targets still very much alive...

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Berserk, attacking his comrade and getting closer to the rest of us.

Level 2 Myrmidon: Injured but not dead, much less of a threat without his good arm. Attempting to get away from the berserked one.

4 Barbarian: Incapacitated by Noah's lightning, and in too much pain to actually fight back. If you feel nasty you can kill him, e.g. throwing him to the Berserk Fighter. Otherwise he will be treated as "dead," and will be shoved into a locked basement/killed/somehow disposed of following the battle... possibly after being interrogated on the rest of the bandits.

6 Barbarian: Disoriented and pinned down by Noah. Managed to get out of the awning, but that's as far as he got.

Noah did not appreciate the vigor with which their enemies assaulted them. As the others came to Wolfe's aid, the two fighting bandits came closer, running into a house, though it seemed the one who had the misfortune of going berserk was running out of energy. Still... he did not intend to let anyone die here. "That's enough of that," he muttered angrily as the lone bandit he'd been left with kept trying to approach him. He clapped his hands together and as he pulled them apart electricity arced between his fingers. Ancient symbols floated before him, and as he took aim, a circle of runes encompassed his arm. "O roar of heaven, become my spear... Out of my way!"

He fired, and the lightning shot forth with far more force than he anticipated; the bandit he'd focused on was thrown to the ground on impact. Noah had not managed to take enough control of it; when it became this way it was rare for him to be able to branch off streams. However, that small victory was broken when the wall he'd erected abruptly fell to pieces. The door crashed open and revealed three rather angry looking goons. Not good. There were too many of them and not enough combat-worthy among the tactician's party. Ariel was fairly clearly drained from her last mighty cast, and Wolfe was still recuperating from his near-death experience. A straight-up fight was out of the question...

"In there!" he called, drawing his sword and pointing to another nearby dwelling. "We'll use the door as a bottleneck! Wolfe, grab Ariel! Emilia, help them out!" As he did so, he took a pouch out and threw it to them. "Vulneraries!" He turned to find the newcomers drawing closer. "I'll be right after you. Hurry!"

Among these three, he had little doubt that he was superior to any single one of them; the problem being that they were not alone, and he had just used a considerable amount of magic.

One of them noticed his hesitation and barked a laugh. "And just who do you think you are, boy?"

He gave an icy glare. "I am the last of this village. And you're not welcome here."

There was a moment of anger before the charge. Very well, then. No more words. Noah had to keep in mind that he wasn't fighting to win, here; he was fighting for time. As soon as the others were clear he'd just have to pull back...

One swung high; Noah ducked. Another approached from the side and he jumped back. The last went with an overhead swing which Noah managed to see coming and sidestep, so it caught his vest but left him with minimal injury. He was aware he was slowly being pushed back, though, trying to keep an eye on three distinct targets, and trying to ensure that they wouldn't simply pass him... One in particular looked hungry to get at more vulnerable targets, he thought, but he was cut off by a blade that he had to parry and back away from. This time, Noah cut a broad swath in response, which didn't connect but left a nice opening for an enemy sword... which he knew, saw coming and immediately placed his own blade where the incoming weapon headed, to the result of a loud clash. Maybe if he could keep creating intentional openings, and blocking them, he could keep them preoccupied long enough for the rest of the group to make it...

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Inside the house, where his status is unknown. Berserk is starting to wear off.

Level 2 Myrmidon: Injured but not dead. Inside the house, attempting to escape.

Level 4 Mercenary: Circling Noah.

Level 6 Myrmidon: Just attacked Noah. Looking for an opening.

Level 5 Barbarian: Tricky, looking for a way to get past Noah and at the others.

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Really, when he didn't expect a help from anyone, it sure came a lot and it turned out he was still alive. The lancer looked at the dead swordsman who died easily by the hands of those girls, he felt ashamed for being even weaker than this dead man. Now he had to feel inferior talking with these life saviors.

If only I can use a bow... Wolfe cursed his fortune once again.

As there was no time to be disappointed, or even time to say 'thanks', the lancer caught the tossed bottle of medicine and drank it before pouring some onto his injured leg. He firmly stood up again, picking up his dropped weapon, and assisted the dancing mage as instructed. One thing he noted in mind was that the shorty, Noah, had a tendency to keep his nosing eyes on everyone, probably both friend and foe.

As he approached the house, Wolfe was surprised by an escaping bandit who jumped out from a window. Though his immediate reaction was jabbing the man to keep him off. It hit his shoulder, and effectively slowed him down. The lancer then jabbed again at the man's head, showing no mercy. "Sorry, but just exhausted my luck just while ago, it would be risk to keep you alive."

"Let's give him a hand." The ex-soldier pointed Ariel at Noah who was holding off several bandits by himself, and said. "No matter how much of a rule-breaker you guys are, this is still a difficult fight. I'll cover you."

Enemy (close)Level 3 Fighter: Inside the house, where his status is unknown. Berserk is starting to wear off.

Level 4 Mercenary: Circling Noah.

Level 6 Myrmidon: Just attacked Noah. Looking for an opening.

Level 5 Barbarian: Tricky, looking for a way to get past Noah and at the others.

Squishy #43: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

"Alright, alright, hurry up!" Emilia did her best to herd the other two into the house, the sooner they were out of the fight, the better. The man Wolfe had stabbed landed on the ground with a loud thud. That was one enemy less to worry about. But that left the question as to where his companion had wandered off to...

They found the answer inside the house, hiding behind a stack of crates whimpering softly to himself. The berserker poison had worked off, and it had left the man exhausted. When he spotted them he rose, trying to aim his weapon at them, but he was shaking badly and barely had the power to raise his arm.

"Pitiful." Emilia said, kicking the man's weapon out of his hand. She grabbed his hands, wrestled them against the crates, took out her dagger once more and slammed it down through his hands, pinning the bandit to the crates. The dagger gave off its trademark flash of light upon impact, and the man cried out in pain and fear.

"I doubt he'll be of any trouble right now. Feel free to finish him. I'll go help Shorty there."

Emilia glanced over her shoulder at Noah. He had commanded them to run, but there was no way he'd be able to keep those bandits off their backs AND survive the fight. Not on his own, at least. She ran back outside with her remaining weapon, joining Noah.

"Need a little help?"

Enemies (close)Level 3 Fighter: Pinned to the crates, too exhausted to prove much of a thread. You might want to knock him out.

Level 4 Mercenary: Circling Noah.

Level 6 Myrmidon: Just attacked Noah. Looking for an opening.

Level 5 Barbarian: Tricky, looking for a way to get past Noah and at the others.

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With Wolfe's support, Ariel managed to make her way into the house where they would apparently bottleneck the enemies. Once the lancer let go of her so he could take a literal stab at the bandit who ambushed them, she collapsed to her knees. Overdoing it with anima magic had never had these consequences, but the longer she stayed conscious, the more nauseous she became. Using her tome to tap herself on the forehead lightly, she shook her head and tried to get to her feet as Wolfe told her to give Noah a hand.

Key word being 'tried'. She failed miserably, succeeding only in wobbling for a few seconds before having to catch her fall again, and covered her mouth with one hand as she fought back the urge to vomit. Successfully doing so, she started rummaging through Noah's pouch of vulneraries, grabbing one and taking a swig from it. While it helped her head and stomach settle, her legs still felt weak and she could barely lift her tome, let alone cast from it.

"I'm sorry," she said to Wolfe, "I'm exhausted... I can't fight now."

Enemy List (close)Level 4 Mercenary: Circling Noah.

Level 6 Myrmidon: Just attacked Noah. Looking for an opening.

Level 5 Barbarian: Tricky, looking for a way to get past Noah and at the others.

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Noah's mouth twitched downwards very, very slightly at Emilia's presence, as though it were more of an intrusion than a reinforcement. Was it truly that difficult to stick to a plan?

"Why are you here?" he asked coldly, never once taking icy eyes off of the enemies before him. "You know this is their home territory; you shouldn't have left those two. They're injured."

"Rrgh, never mind," he growled as the impatient axe-wielder made a run for their allies beyond them. Noah sprung forward, his own weapon already swinging, and forcing the sprinter to stop. It failed to hit him, but it did halt his advance.

At any rate... if the others were truly insistent on fighting out here, he thought it best to switch to the offensive. He needed to end this quickly so they had time to recuperate and prepare for their ambush.

He rushed the one who'd attempted to pass them, feinting left to draw out a block... before ignoring him and assaulting one of the swordsmen. He was, however, fleet-footed enough to avoid a clean hit; where Noah aimed for the head to give him a concussion, he found only a good hit in the neck. It did manage to unbalance him, which the tactician did not put to waste; he lunged in for another attack as his enemy reeled, and this time hit with a dead-on thrust to the solar plexus, leaving him out of breath. Noah switched to the dagger and finished him with one final slice, leaving him exhausted and poisoned. He paid for this victory with a retaliatory slash from his companion sword-wielder, leaving a nasty gash in the upper arm.

With a slight grunt of pain, Noah winced and backed away, taking a cursory glance at the wound. It wasn't life-threatening, and thankfully his vambrace had protected the vicinity of his wrist, but it was still painful enough to prevent him from using it fully. Hopefully the others had used the opportunity he'd given them to take out the one he'd feinted.

"That relieved me, actually." replied Wolfe as he pulled the girl's arm up, wrapping it over the back of his neck. "To think that I'll have a change to return you a favor, I'm still fortunate."

His single eye focused at the girl a bit, just to make certain she was still conscious, before he kept moving to the destined location. His leg was still bleeding a bit but it was healing up. With a normal pace, they were heading to Noah, as well as Emilia who were quick to aid the man.

The lancer said as he panted. "It's my turn to protect you, just stay still until you get better."

His sniper eye saw when the enemies ganged up against Noah, it also read further how the bandit swordsman was going to continue attacking. The man was about to turnaround with his sword, and was dashing forward. It was at that opening that Wolfe threw his spear with his armed hand. The thrown weapon hit the targeted bandit at his arm but didn't go deep enough to cripple it, though that much was required to get his attention.

The bandit swordsman turned to him and Ariel, who appeared defenseless among the rest of the party. Wolfe picked up a nearby sword of a dead bandit, and pointed that to the approaching enemy. The bandit pulled the spear out of his arm and winced a bit, but still looked angry.

"Oh-oh." Wolfe turned to Noah and Emilia, saying. ",would be nice to have one of you here."

For some reason, after that near death situation, he didn't fear of dying that much anymore.

enemy (close)

Level 4 Mercenary: Turned to Wolfe and Ariel instead, arm injured.

Level 5 Barbarian: Faked out for a second, open for attack.

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"Aww. I had expected you to be a little happier to see me." Emilia said with a pout, which quickly turned into a grin as she hacked at the bandit that attacked Noah, making him stumble backwards.

"The other one is... well let's say he's stuck. He won't bother us anymore."

Right as she was about to say something about the hit Noah had taken to his wrist, a lance flew past her ear, embedding itself in one of the bandits' arm. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much as he pulled it right out again and tossed it aside, before advancing on Wolfe and Ariel. Could no one here hold their own against some bandits?

Emilia let out a shout of frustration, making a lunging move at the bandit. As expected, he raised his weapon to block her, and she used the opportunity to dive through his legs, slash at his ankles and grab for the dropped lance.

"Keep your junk with you!" She shouted, as she tossed the lance back at the one-eyed man. Then she turned to the now limping bandit, a mocking smile on her face. Without so much as a word, she slit his throat and let him stumble into the dirt.

"Now, what to do with the last one?"

Enemies (close)

Level 5 Barbarian: Closing in for another attack.

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To Ariel's enormous relief, Wolfe didn't get mad at her for being unable to continue the fight. To her confusion, he seemed to be grateful that she couldn't cast a single spell anymore. Helping her up, he carried her to where Noah and Emilia were fighting. Ariel wanted to protest, to say that with him injured and her little more than a dead weight, they'd only risk getting killed, but she didn't have the strength to.

"This wouldn't have happened if I'd had my old spells," she muttered under her breath, regretting more than ever that she'd let the cook mess her up. She had tried many times to use her old fire spells, thunder spells, and wind spells, but never once had they responded to her. This was unusual, of course- Dark Mages were not locked out of the powers of nature. The cook could work Fire Magic- that was how he cooked.

She was rudely pulled from her pondering as Emilia threw Wolfe's lance back at them, with her customary complete lack of courtesy. Ariel frowned, but decided to chalk it up to the stress of the battle.

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Noah grew more agitated by the minute. Of course. Of course Wolfe found it necessary to bring a wounded woman to the midst of the vicious melee. Of course he had to get in the frantic mix despite still being injured himself. No plan survives contact with the enemy, indeed.

He sheathed his sword and traded it in for his dagger. As he did so, he grumbled some unheard profanity to himself. The last bandit circled, but despite the bleeding, lagging arm, Noah's glare suppressed any urges he felt to attack. Any rational plan he had to deal with his foe was entirely lost in his frustration, yet he never looked so feral and ready to kill. The tactician stepped toward to meet his enemy, and so did the axe-wielder.

"Stupid..." he muttered aloud, twisting his body to avoid a heavy swing.

"Reckless..." he continued, moving forward, slicing upwards and leaving a long wound along the side of the bandit's neck.

"Fools!" He finished, stepping forward further to give a final slice along the back of the bandit and kicking him down. As his foe fell, Noah turned to his allies. He had attempted to hold it in, but he simply couldn't anymore, especially with the adrenaline running. The tirade was coming.

"Do your lives mean that little to you?! We didn't need to confront them out here! We could've slowed them down with those doors, minimized the risk! And you two," he went on, addressing Wolfe and Ariel, "Why did you even think of fighting in that state?! One of you can barely stand, and the other is still wounded! You could've been killed! Or knowing these scumbags, worse!"

He slowly stopped and growled something incomprehensible. There was no use in scolding them. He supposed that he'd have tried the same in their place. Instead he grabbed and dragged a still-living, concussed thug into the house with the first, who had been pinned down quite literally.

"All right. You two. You two are going to tell me what I want to know, or you're going to meet a fate too terrible for even Grima to speak of."

"And why-- why should we do that?" asked the dagger-held bandit in between gasps of pain.

Despite the slurred speech of the concussed thug and the grunts of agony of the pinned one, he managed to extract some information out of them in this manner. There thankfully weren't many more of them, the remainder having left to investigate as predicted. After getting this intel, Noah proceeded to bind the former and bash the latter unconscious to keep them quiet. He then sighed, having burnt himself out from his earlier anger.

"All right. We'll fight from here. How is everyone feeling? Do we have any vulneraries left?" He pointed to his own injured arm. "I still need something to deal with this."

Vice #50: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

"I'd question you the same at first when you fired off your magic show, rookie." replied Wolfe, as he was not either happy about this whole situation. It supposed to be just a casual patrol at first, and he felt it was a bit off of how these bandits want them dead without nothing. Bandits were bandits, but there was always a way to negotiate, and that was too late now. "And remember, you're not my commander, don't think that we'll react to your great plan as if we're your pawns."

Actually, he somehow thought it might be better if he didn't meet these people. He might be well undetected alone in sand.

The spearman rested while the tactician interrogated the bandits, he searched the fallen bodies and got some medicines and antidotes, then just took just what he needed. He gave one to Ariel who appeared to need it most, then tossed one to Emilia even though he didn't think she need it, just to return a favor. "Already feel like I owe you a lot, thanks."

"So," He started talking to the dancer girl just to kill time and to forget the pain. "You mentioned about your old spells, what was that about?"

"Here." Wolfe said when Noah asked for vulneraries, as well as checking their condition, before handing over the bottle. He didn't say a word about his condition, as it already looked not so good. Even though it was healing up, he felt tired already. "What info did you get?"

"Thank you..." Ariel took the medicine from Wolfe and, without considering that someone else might need it and without regard for the horrifically bitter taste, downed the whole container within a few gulps. She then realized she should probably answer his question. It wasn't too terribly embarrassing to talk about anyway- it wasn't HER fault her colleague didn't have his hex ingredients in order.

"Freak accident," she said, "It's a long story. Suffice to say I grew up learning the Magic of Truth, using the basic elements of nature. But, well... I volunteered to be the test subject for a friend's experimental hex and he messed up. I've tried to use my Anima spells, but none of them want to function anymore so I'm limited to, well..." she waved her tome weakly. "I used to be more useful than this, honest. It's... just the first time I've had to use Dark Magic on people and I haven't figured out how to dose the power in the casts yet... it's very different." She then put a hand on her forehead, shaking her head. "At least I haven't had a blackout though, so that's good I guess."

She then turned to Noah. "On that note, Noah. I'll be okay, but I really need some time to regain my strength. I might not be able to cast my spells when the next wave comes, but maybe I could help out in other ways if I can rest a bit first."

Squishy #52: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

So the shorty did have a bit of a mean streak. A small smile crept over Emilia's lips as Noah dealt with the two bandits. Perhaps she could stick around a little longer after this, the man might even be useful to her. At the very least she know had an idea of which buttons to push to get a reaction out of the man.

She caught the vulnerary that came her way, shook the bottle a little and looked at its contents, before setting it down on a crate.

"I don't need this."

Emilia had sustained some bruises, cuts and wounds, but nothing too serious. As long as she could stand on her own legs and hold a weapon, she wouldn't drink the potion. She did not want to show any weakness to these people, even if some of them would have called it reckless.

"Anyway, seeing as we're sort of having a break, I suggest we put up some traps. Trust me, they're great for keeping unwanted guests out." She said, walking over to the door. She knelt down and started working on a small, simple trap with a piece of string and a throwing knife.

It wouldn't do much, but it would slow their assailants down.

UD #53: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

"Fine," Noah muttered tiredly in response the lancer's own remarks, "I apologize. It was... ungraceful. But I stand by what I said, and it was intended to be for your good rather than mine." The tactician massaged his temples and reassured himself that this day would end soon enough. Then he continued, taking a dose of the bitter vulnerary as he did so.

"That aside... it seems as though there are only around half a dozen of them left. They're going to be wary after this, and it seems their leader is among them. He was evidently chosen for strength as much as for anything else, so he might be a problem. On the other hand, defeating him early might demoralize the others. Assuming we can pull that off," he muttered. Though no one save the dark mage seemed forthcoming with any injuries, Noah could tell that the battle had worn them down a bit. It wasn't lethal on its own, but with another wave coming it could prove very problematic. He was glad that they'd have a few minutes of rest. The calm before the storm, as it were.

He took stock of their surroundings. The room they were in would likely be the main battlefield; it was close to the door, had two open windows and there were many crates and barrels in the back. There also were stairs, which he went up to check. A scarcely-decorated upper level greeted him. A few chairs, a table, bookcases... it also held a hole in the wall, so it wouldn't be much protection. How to use all this to his advantage...

"We're going to cheat," he said matter-of-factly as he descended the staircase. "There's a good open space up top. If you'll feel strong enough to drag and drop things from there, the weight alone can be an immense help," he said to Ariel. To Wolfe; "We can make a barricade of those crates, too. We can arrange them so that your spear can go through holes in the wall of boxes while their broader weapons can't." And finally, he addressed Emilia. "And we can get the jump on them by firing through those windows. Does that sound like a plan?"

Vice #54: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

"That...sounds like a lot of work." Wolfe commented, while thinking about the possibility. It could be managed if there was time, meaning they will have to be quick with making decision. He wonder how strong of a barricade can they build, it could probably hold numbers of attacks, but would it worth? It was true that his spear could attack the other side, but once the trick is used once, the bandits will notice and be more careful about it. That was all for his limiting attack. He had to make sure that his first strike kill one of the enemies, to lessen workload of others. Then, he will have to rely on other members to win this. "...but could be managed, somehow. What is your opinion, ladies?"

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While Noah did Tactician things, Ariel exhaled and leaned back, trying to just not exert herself. She listened to his instructions and his assessment of the area. Apparently, she was to help out in non-magical means by dropping heavy things from the second floor onto the heads of their foes. That meant they had to hope there were no archers or mages amongst the enemy that could pick her off from a distance... although she was pretty confident in her ability to resist magic, an arrow in her shoulder would put her out of commission pretty easily.

Still, her mind was clearing up a little and she was aware of the time pressure, so she nodded quickly. "I'll get up there as quickly as possible. Warn me if they've got ranged options, though." When she got to her feet, she noted to her satisfaction that she didn't wobble anymore. "Just a few seconds."

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"We don't have many other options, do we? I can sling some knives through the window, but I'm warning you; we might not get as lucky as before. The poison will make the victim simply attack whoever is closest to them at the moment."

The rest of plan seemed good enough, especially considering it was their only option. They had to make do with whatever was inside the house, and pray the bandits were starting to get as exhausted as they were.

"I'll help you get these up." Emilia said to Ariel. She started picking up the furniture she could carry on her own, and headed towards the stairs, passing Noah.

"Say, Mister Tactics," she started. "Once they're in sight, I can pick off those at the back of the group, but when my knives run out I'll be useless on long range. Think you can cover me while I meet them heads-on?"

It was a reckless plan, but if it worked, it might cause enough chaos amongst their enemies to scatter them. If Noah could keep most of the bandits away from her, she might have a chance to strike directly at their leader, or at least take out a large part of the group.

UD #57: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Noah nodded. "I'll give you what support I can." The plan seemed to be set, and with surprising cohesion they got to work. He arranged some boxes to form a crude wall, and then setting smaller crates behind large ones to help with stability. Eventually they were more or less finished, and used the remaining few minutes to catch their breath. Noah checked the window to see some men approaching and gestured to get in position.

From the look of it, there were three men leading with assorted weapons. In the middle was an imposing man of considerable build and strange, needlessly elaborate feathery headdress, and in the back were two men hefting bows. Unfortunately, both of them had notched arrows, signifying to the tactician that they were ready and looking. They saw their fallen comrades, but the leader kept them from going. Noah realized how stupid a decision it was to leave them lying around, and cursed inwardly. If they weren't suspicious before they surely were now. Still... he needed to wait until they were close enough for Ariel to strike, as well... he began weaving incantations. Wait... wait...

They got as close as he thought possible without detecting the party. Noah nodded and let loose a vicious blast of lightning, targeting the two archers. One had been inspecting a building on the other side of the street and took the brunt of the blast. The other had managed to dive and escaped with little more than singed hair. The close-range weapon users turned, two of them rushing in the general direction of the building, another whirling round to see what was happening. The leader did nothing, but he glared and observed.

Twenty seconds. Noah felt as though they had twenty seconds, maybe less, to wreak havoc and run wild. After that their foes would surely be able to compose themselves and counterattack.

Enemies (close)

Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Taking in the din of battle.Level 6 Barbarian: Rushing the house.Level 4 Myrmidon: Close to Barbarian buddy, running.Level 7 Fighter: Trying to understand the situation.Level 5 Archer: Shocked in the literal manner.Level 3 Archer: Shocked in a metaphorical manner, has hit the dirt so as to not get killed.

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"Thank you," Ariel said as Emilia dragged some things upstairs. She hadn't expected the help, but she was genuinely grateful for it- dragging heavy things up a stairwell was a little too taxing. She wasn't exactly a battle-hardened axeman, after all, and her fragile dancer-mage body could push things but not carry them.

While the others set up shop, Ariel focused on getting some of her strength back. By the time everyone took to their positions according to Noah's plan, she flexed her fingers, feeling something more than blood flow through them- maybe there was a cast or two to be gotten out of her in case of emergency, after all. As the bandits approached, she looked around for relatively light objects to start her assault with. "Ohey," she muttered, "Books!" Walking over, she grabbed the first, thick-spined tome she found. A dictionary, eh?

"It's as good a start as any to get some literacy going in those beasts," she decided, grabbing a few more volumes from the bookcase and heading back over to the edge, slinging the first one towards the crowd without really aiming.

She nailed the closest bandit who had been running towards the house with an axe over his shoulder. She doubted the damage was sufficient to take him out, but the impact certainly made him stagger. His companions seemed to hesitate for a split second, but then simply continued their approach. Ariel's second throw missed, but with her third, she managed to hit the archer that Noah had already struck as well, knocking him out. "Literacy 1," she said, pumping her fist in victory, "Banditry 0!" She turned around, looking for her next projectile. Soon, they would be too close for the books to make any difference.Enemies (close)Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Taking in the din of battle.Level 6 Barbarian: Rushing the house, a bit dizzy from the impact of the dictionary.Level 4 Myrmidon: Close to Barbarian buddy, running.Level 7 Fighter: Trying to understand the situation.Level 3 Archer: Shocked in a metaphorical manner, has hit the dirt so as to not get killed.

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Waiting behind the barricade, Wolfe noticed of the arriving foe. He didn't see how many there had, however, it seemed to be around five of them or less from the footsteps. Trying to calm himself down, he looked through the hole to see if something was coming his way, just to find that nothing can be seen the tiny space. He began to feel irritated of how limited of vision he had for this, but still kept his hand ready nevertheless. In order to not be found out easily, the hold was made so that no one can see his position from front view, and so his attack would his his target from aside.

The was until the lancer heard a striking from the other side that let him know the enemy had arrived. He tightened his grip and stared at the hole until he saw a shadow. An attacker from the other side tried to destroy this weak barricade by axing it. His attack landed once, and it needed only a few more slams to achieve.

Not a chance.

His sniper quickly locked at his target when he came into range, and smashed for a second time. As vague as it was, Wolfe made sure the target was not armored and that his head was left unprotected. His weapon, an axe, was brought down and was not going to come in his way. His movement, for some reason, was slacking as though his balance had been hindered. He was not sure.

The ex-sniper quickly took a step forward as thrusting out his spear. The attack went through the barricade hole and perfectly hit the destined position. It was only a small lance tip that embedded into the man head, though that was more than enough to kill someone.

Wolfe quickly retrieved his weapon, however, it was not quick enough as he had eye-contacted with someone who came to the dead's aid. He lunged out a next attack, but the new target had already been cautioned and got away.

Tch...now I have to change my position. The lancer retreated from the near fallen barricade and hid inside the house.

Enemy (close)

Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Taking in the din of battle.Level 4 Myrmidon: Close to his dead Barbarian buddy, and has spotted Wolfe.Level 7 Fighter: Trying to understand the situation.Level 3 Archer: Shocked in a metaphorical manner, has hit the dirt so as to not get killed.

Squishy #60: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Emilia had perched on the windowsill on the top floor of the building, eyeing the bandits while they approached the house. Wolfe and Emilia had already succeeded in taking one of them out, and had attracted the attention of a second one. Which left three others on the battlefield, since the myrmidon was too close to their barricade to use her throwing knives on. If she did, the chance was too big he would smash right through their wall of crates, leaving the way open for his companions.

Instead she focused on the fighter, the archer could be a possible target too, but she had no idea what would happen if he were to start firing arrows in all directions and their boss was just out of reach.

Emilia pulled her arm back, aimed, and flung the knife right into the bandit's shoulder. It took only a few seconds for the poison to take effect, after which the man started swinging his weapon around wildly. That would keep them busy while she moved on to the next part of the plan.

She looked over to Noah.

"I'm ready to jump in. Just say when."

Enemies (close)

Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Taking in the din of battle.Level 4 Myrmidon: Close to his dead Barbarian buddy, and has spotted Wolfe. Approaching Emilia's trap by the door?Level 7 Fighter: BerserkLevel 3 Archer: Shocked in a metaphorical manner, has hit the dirt so as to not get killed.

Wait... wait... The myrmidon pursued the lancer, but having not seen their preparations, he neglected to avoid the tripwire. He earned a knife to the ankle for his trouble, and Noah rushed him with his own dagger, leaving a bad cut in his neck and poison in his veins. In his surprise, the bandit offered little resistance.

Noah knocked him over with a shoulder to his body and left him to die. "Now, I'll be right with you."

But even as the words dropped from his mouth the actions of their leader gave him pause. The axefighter that Emilia had nailed swung downwards at a very startled archer, who rolled away to avoid certain demise. The leader? He calmly approached from behind and put his blade through the berserk bandit, dropping him quickly. The ease and cold calculation behind the movement was chilling to see. Noah understood the logic... were it only for that, he might have maintained his composure. But... "If you can't control yourself," the head-dressed head bandit said dispassionately, "then you're just a problem."

He turned to the archer. "Get up. You're disgraceful." The bowman scrambled to his feet and took aim at Ariel, but he was shocked by a rather livid tactician. This man was Noah's opposite. He would not lose.

For a moment there was nothing but silence as the two glared at each other. It was as though two beasts had encountered each other over their favorite prey. Noah said nothing. "Wait," he told Emilia. "He'll come to us."

The opposing leader drew his sword as he stepped forward. "But will you be ready, little man?"

"Thanks." Wolfe mentioned to Noah who had just finished the swordsman. He was glad it was a right decision to regroup after all. Now, there were only two enemies remaining, even though the last one seemed to be pretty skilled. Moreover, he just murdered his own underling, heartlessly. "...well, as expected of a big bad bandit."

Wolfe pondered. He figured he would be useless with the sword bastard, and for that he would best fit to distract the archer from assisting his boss. Being an ex-sharpshooter, he knew best than anyone here how to deal with a bowman. Also, this archer didn't seem to be a great sniper at all, especially when compared to himself in the past. The lancer had confident in this.

"Since he already has a crush on you, why don't you take the challenge and leave the bow one to me?" Wolfe said, smirking a bit. He did not seem to be scared of the boss's appearance or his personality at all, it was probably from his experience. ""

Not leaving much time for Noah to respond, the blind lance carefully walked aside, away from the direction that the bandit boss was approaching. As that man didn't show any sign to pursue him, probably didn't see him as a threat, Wolfe fully turned to the reluctant archer with his spear, and that automatically helped the man to decide his target.

"Right, aim here."

Of course, from distance, the archer would be the first one to attack. He notched his arrow clumsily and turned to the lancer, however, Wolfe already locked on to the archer's aiming and moved away when the arrow was pointed at him. The archer followed. This time, Wolfe waited a little after being targeted to lure the archer to release arrow, then he stepped aside and dodged it easily.

"I can do this." Wolfe muttered, smirking. It appeared that he just had to hope that the three-on-one plan will go well.

The battle had been going in their favor, with her allies picking off enemies like flies. While Ariel herself wasn't of much help at the moment, she had an excellent vantage point and great overview of the skirmish. Just as she had pulled a chair over, though, she'd witnessed the apparent leader of the bunch killing one of his own men. It came as a shock to the dark mage, who was a member of a group of combat-capable Plegians herself. She couldn't imagine their leader doing something this horrible, this immoral.

Abandoning the chair idea, she took her tome, which she had put on the table earlier so she'd have her hands free to throw stuff. Wolfe had requested to be left alone with his foe -she could hear that much from where she was- and while she'd keep an eye on them and would keep one cast in reserve in case he needed it, this was something she couldn't forgive. "Lord Grima will FEAST upon your wicked soul," she snarled, despite the man not being able to hear her.

Problem was, while the Flux did its job pain-wise -evidently the man was not built to defend against magic- its normal effect of dizzying the target didn't seem to kick in. She'd already raised her hand for a second cast, but it shook and she decided against it. Instead, she opted to continue with her initial plan and hurl the chair down at him.

Enemies (close)Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Approaching. May want to dodge out of the way of an incoming chair.Level 3 Archer: Nervously attempting to hit Wolfe.

Squishy #64: Click Here To Show/Hide This Text

Damn. That guy was tougher than expected. Even Emilia wouldn't stoop so low as to outright kill her own companions, no matter how frustrated she got with them. Sure, they could expect a good beating or getting left behind, but killing them was far below her. This bandit on the other hand had no problem with that, seeing as he stabbed the other man through the back without a second thought.

Fighting him was going to be a lot tougher than all of the others. Emilia was slowly starting to regret not drinking the vulnerary when she had the chance.

She headed over to Noah's side, weapons drawn and ready for battle.

"Any idea how to handle him?"

Enemies (close)Charten, Level 14 Mercenary: Approaching. May want to dodge out of the way of an incoming chair.Level 3 Archer: Nervously attempting to hit Wolfe.

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"I can't say I do..." Noah muttered, sizing up their enemy. It was fairly clear by the way he'd carried himself that there was none his equal on the field, and the traps they had set beforehand were all but used up. All they could really rely on was their superior ability to organize. With that in mind...

"...We can coordinate our attacks. I'll go first. Use the chaos to find an opening..." Noah raised a sandy wall before them, obscuring their approach from the bandit head. Then he made a great show of rushing out from the right side, trusting Emilia to go the other way. He had drawn his blade and swung as he approached. Somewhat as expected, the man saw it coming and allowed the weapon to slide off of his. Noah leapt back after the initial clash, and as the two set up in combat stances, the more imposing swordsman spoke.

"Tell me, little man. For what reason do you fight?"

"I need a reason to purge you defilers of my home?"

"Ha. With the world the way it is? You better find one fast."

Noah said nothing. There was nothing to speak about. They reached an implicit understanding and attacked. Noah managed a clean jab to the chest, knocking some wind out of his attacker's sails, and sustained a slash wound across his own side. The tactician drew back as the chair came crashing down...

Wolfe lured his enemy into his advantage. The same trick worked most of the time with this unexperienced archer as his shot never hit the approaching lancer. The blind man knew when to step away from the firing course, before taking a step forward. Finally, his spear reached the long-ranged attacker. It hit the man's arm before his kick brought him down, another kick at his head ensured his temporary loss of conscious.

"Phew..." Wiping his sweat, the spearman turned to the more important battle, just to find out that it was still going on. The bandit leader didn't seem to care much about him at all, while speaking with the short tactician. Wolfe mumbled. "Well, look like I can just escape like this."

That would be just, wouldn't it? Wolfe believed he already had enough of a bad day, it would be right to just save himself and survive. No one can tell if those three will beat the crap out of the strong looking desert thief, leaving while he can would be the wisest option. He really considered it, however, that was until he remembered his debt to those people.

"Darn, look like I can't just let 'em die or they would haunt me every night onward." Grabbing his weapon tightly, the lancer headed back to the house, no matter if he was needed or not.